“Timing is rapidly becoming a critical element for many industries. As the need for precise timing grows, more and more users are turning to GPS technology.”
Dennis L. Workman, VP and General Manager, Trimble Component Technologies Division
In addition to longitude, latitude, and altitude, the Global Positioning System (GPS) provides a critical fourth dimension – time. Each GPS satellite contains multiple atomic clocks that contribute very precise time data to the GPS signals. GPS receivers decode these signals, effectively synchronizing each receiver to the atomic clocks. This enables users to determine the time to within 100 billionths of a second, without the cost of owning and operating atomic clocks.
New applications of GPS timing technology appear every day. Hollywood studios are incorporating GPS in their movie slates, allowing for unparalleled control of audio and video data, as well as multi-camera sequencing. The ultimate applications for GPS, like the time it measures, are limitless. As GPS becomes modernized, further benefits await users. The addition of the second and third civilian GPS signals will increase the accuracy and reliability of GPS time, which will remain free and available to the entire world.
GPS timing offers many benefits to business and individuals:
- Widespread availability of atomic clock time, without the atomic clocks.
- Precise synchronization of communications systems, power grids, financial networks, and other critical infrastructure.
- More efficient use of limited radio spectrum by wireless networks.
- Improved network management and optimization, making traceable time tags possible for financial transactions and billing.
- Communication of high-precision time among national laboratories using "common view" techniques.
